Der Giftpilz

Der Giftpilz (The Poisonous Mushroom) was a textbook distributed around schools in Nazi Germany. The illustrations and text were designed to help children identify physical traits of Jews while simultaneously labelling them as dangerous and poisonous beings.

On the cover, some Jewish people have been depicted as unfriendly mushrooms and their physiognomy exaggerated, referring to stereotypes such as the big “hooked” nose. Likewise, on another page of the book, students look at a blackboard with depictions of exaggerated Jewish physical traits (The text reads "the Jewish nose is hooked at the tip; it looks like the number six"). This evidences that otherness is something drawn, a construction that in the case of The Giftpilz helps in grouping and dividing society.